S.R. NO.   65

THE SENATE                                             S.D. 1
EIGHTEENTH LEGISLATURE, 1995                               
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                                


                       SENATE  RESOLUTION



  REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO STUDY HAWAII'S
         NON-PROFIT CABLE PUBLIC ACCESS CORPORATIONS TO ENSURE
         THAT THEIR OPERATIONS ARE CONSISTENT WITH PEG ACCESS
         GOALS.
  
  
  
         WHEREAS, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs
  (DCCA) is designated as the cable franchising authority for the
  State of Hawaii by the Federal Communications Commission; and
  
         WHEREAS, federal law allows the DCCA to assess up to
  five per cent of the cable companies' gross revenues to fund
  public, educational, and government (PEG) access in exchange
  for the value given to cable companies to operate using the
  public rights of way; and
  
         WHEREAS, the congressional legislative intent in
  assessing five per cent of the cable companies' gross revenues
  is to ensure cable companies contribute to the community; and
  
         WHEREAS, the cable companies throughout the State pass
  on the costs of funding PEG access to the cable subscriber as
  part of their cable bill; and
  
         WHEREAS, PEG access is provided on Oahu, by 'Olelo:  The
  Corporation for Community Television, on Maui by Akaku:  Maui
  Community Television, on the Big Island by Na Leo 'O Hawaii,
  Inc., and Hoike:  Kauai Community Television, Inc. which are
  all non-profit corporations with no individual memberships; and
  
         WHEREAS, the directors of these corporations are
  appointed by the Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and
  by the local cable providers as directed by the bylaws of the
  corporations; and
  
         WHEREAS, the cable subscribers whose rates include the
  costs of PEG access programming presently have no
  representation on these non-profit corporation boards; and
  
         WHEREAS, other non-profit cable access corporations
  across the United States are operated and managed similarly to
  the local community cable access corporations; and

         WHEREAS, emerging issues in this area such as the
  appropriate mix of programming, the efficient use of public
  funds, and other similar areas of concern indicate that it may
  be appropriate to review the structures and roles of the PEG
  access corporations in Hawaii; now, therefore,
  
         BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Eighteenth
  Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 1995,
  that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to study the
  non-profit public, education, and government cable access
  corporations in Hawaii to determine if their operation provides
  the type of access and programming intended by both federal and
  state law, and examine the following issues related to
  management, funding, and operation:
  
         (1)  Whether the method of choosing the boards of
              directors should be changed to include the votes of
              cable subscribers living in the cable service
              franchise area in which the non-profit access
              corporation operates;
  
         (2)  How funds are allocated to the three different
              arenas of access (public, education, and
              government) and how that money is budgeted by the
              corporations for production, overhead,
              administrative staff, and other expenses that are
              incurred;
  
         (3)  Whether the demand for training and personnel is
              adequately being met through current training
              requirements; and
  
         (4)  What guidelines, if any, are needed to ensure that,
              from the perspective of programming content,
              government officials do not abuse cable access for
              purposes other than public access to government?
  
  and
  
         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Director of Commerce and
  Consumer Affairs and the boards of each of the non-profit
  corporations in each county managing PEG access are requested
  to provide their full cooperation and assistance to the
  Legislative Reference Bureau; and
  
         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
  Resolution be transmitted to the Director of the Legislative
  Reference Bureau, the Director of Commerce and Consumer
  Affairs, the Chairpersons of the Boards of 'Olelo:  The
  Corporation for Community Television, Akaku:  Maui Community
  Television, Na Leo 'O Hawaii, Inc., and Hoike:  Kauai Community
  Television, Inc.